Forest Living: Snow Scenes

Snow started falling Sunday evening December 6 and we woke to a cold white world.  This storm brought more snow and colder weather (23 F) than we've experienced since living here (or when building).  Judging by the snow depth in the upper garden, it brought us 8-10 inches of snow.  On Monday this was a fluffy wonderful powder.  Tuesday was crunchy.  Wednesday and Thursday were treacherous ice.  The last of the snow is dispersing today in the rain (and a much warmer low, 37 F). 

As seems to be the norm, this unusual storm caused power outages throughout California; we were without power Monday day and Tuesday day.  The house performed very well, and I learned to heat some things (tea, cider, chocolate, scrambled eggs) on a wood stove.  My "free" time was spent taking pictures (too many), frolicking with pets, turning off water systems outside (learning), tending the wood stove, and catching up on filing and reading.  The fantastic light in our pop-up (quilt room) also allowed me to do some quilting. We limped along with kerosene and battery lanterns from about 4 pm on, which became tedious. 

I limited the number of pictures in this post, which was hard to do. I think I have over 200 after discarding about 50. Previous snow storms have quickly melted away, so I started taking pictures during the storm.  There is a second post (earlier today) with some of the pet shots; this post is more-so focused on the beauty.

These are mostly sequential, and mostly from Monday.

From below our house on our forest path.  You can sort-of see our cat Homer on the right side, and that is the south elevation of our house up there.  It was still snowing when I snapped this one.

Our north elevation, taken a few minutes after the other shot.

Looking down our driveway from the house.

Candidate for our Christmas Card; looking up the driveway toward the house.

Looking back at our house, from a little further up the driveway versus the last shot.

Walking down our road.

That little orange-brown bump on Ron's left is Homer-Kitty.  He loves it when we include him in dog activities and thinks he should get whatever the dogs get (except car rides).

Snowy house front (north elevation).

The greenhouse and upper garden.  The brown to the left of the tool shed is the top of a retaining wall.  The green bumps to the right of the greenhouse, well, they were tomato plants.  I kept them longer than was practical, but they were still slowly producing some tomatoes.  Guess what I'll be doing this weekend!

Lilac bushes, above the large turnaround retaining wall.

What good is snow without some frolicking?

A Manzanita that was just too artistic to remove when we cleared this area.

The Forest King

Uphill from the house, our former cabin is now a workshop.

This was taken late Tuesday.

Sunset, Monday, December 7, 2009

(partial view from our living room - taken standing outside on the deck)

Sunset, Tuesday, December 8, 2009

(much of the snow was still there; from the living room again)

Just Photos: Snow Frolics! December 2009

This post is for pet/animal lovers.  Refer to the post after this one, Forest Living: Snow Scenes, for the details about our storm. 

Everyone appreciated the snow, although some had to adapt.

• Connor -- adapt?  You just have to love it.  He raced around the hillside and forest, and was in motion so much that I had trouble taking pictures.
  
• Ripley, our blind Australian Cattle Dog, was disoriented at first, and we had to shift to some older toys.  But she liked nosing it, sniffing it, and eating it.
  
• Homer-Kitty's fur was useful for something other than weed-gathering. He accompanied us on our walk down the road, and went outside every time I took the dogs out.  He rolled in the snow, skated on the ice, climbed the trees, and generally frolicked.
  
• The twins (18 month old kittens) were new to this, but that didn't stop them long.  They had great fun in the powder stuff.  Whiz (WYSIWYG), in particular, would have mad moments of rushing around grabbing armfuls of powder and looking insane.  Then when it iced over, it became a skating rink.  Worried about falling?  Not them.
  

Homer-Kitty likes pedestals.

(He's the stray kitten who wandered onto our building site; we think he is 2.5 years now.)

On the walk, Ripley & Connor on flexi's, Homer in the ditch on the right.

Ripley (12 years old), little blind trooper.  Doesn't let disabilities slow her down.

Busy busy busy.  Homer has so much personality that it is sometimes odd to realize how small he is.

Ripley with her old pre-surgery toy. When she was blind but still had her eyes, this was the only toy she could handle. I could throw it, it has a repetitive song, and she could find it and retrieve it. After she recovered from her surgery early this year, she refused to play with this anymore, and went back to the more "technical" hard rubber balls. I think the surgery to remove her eyes also removed her pain.  Today I throw balls along the ground (sometimes bouncing) and she retrieves. She's amazingly quick and it is hard sometimes to remember she is blind. However, the powdery snow meant we had to go back to this toy.  But as soon as it was icy, she rejected it again.

Wysiwyg (whizzy-whig), next to my lemon tree (which seems to be okay). 

Can you do this?

(It has to be such fun to be a cat!)

Grabbing armfuls of powder, a new sport.  Whiz cavorted in circles, sliding down the hill.

In Connor's defense, here is the proof that he doesn't always start these things!

BCOS (Black Cloud Over Snow), little kitty, so hard to get a picture of him in the snow.

In most shots he looks like a black rock.

When I shot this one, Homer had just started to move.  The next shot would have shown him peacefully sitting on a boulder, after alluding Connor with a zig-zag trail that bounced off at least one tree.

So much to watch.

Blind Cattle Dog roaming cross-country.  Independent?  You think?